Silviya Sobaci

Hello, I am Silviya and I work as a wedding and portrait photographer in Amsterdam. I have worked now for about five years as a photographer and love it in every way. Can not think of a job that would fulfil me more.

When choosing my gear, it’s not really different from other life choices I make. It needs to be uncomplicated so I can keep having fun.

I don’t like to overthink stuff during work so I can fully be immersed in the story of the wedding couple. Therefore my equipment for a wedding day is really only the most necessary.

I have one ‘go-to’ camera and two lenses that I use most of the time. The other camera is my backup. To allow creativity during portrait sessions or long getting-ready moments, I have two more lenses that I use for variety.

Cameras

I work mainly with the Nikon D750 as it is just a great camera and so reliable. The flip screen is one feature I cannot do without. My back-up camera is my first camera, actually, the D800.

I had bought it because back in 2015, everyone recommended it to me. It is still a great camera but more bulky and it has no wifi connectivity or a flip screen. And with my 1,59 m I really need a flip screen :)

I am tempted to switch to Sony because everyone has raged about the focus and silent modus but over the years, I learned to use my Nikon D750 like a second brain and don’t need to think a lot when shooting in different situations. So for now, I am still with Nikon.

Lenses

I have exactly four lenses in my bag. During the day, I only use the Nikon 35mm f/2 for the reportage and, on the dance floor, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 . Seriously, my simple Nikon 35mm f/2 is so reliable and so light, it is a real delight to some of the heavier 35mm.

On the dance floor, I want to get a wider shot but still be able to get in to the action. I found the Sigma Art was exactly what I needed when I tested it out. It is fast in low light conditions and nails the focus every time.

For (wedding) portrait sessions, I use the Nikon 85mm f/1.4 and that is a real quality lens for amazing portraits of solo images of the groom or bride.

When shooting portraits, I also love the Nikon 50mm f/1.8. It just gives a slight differentiation from the Nikon 35mm f/2 but enough to see the difference and so offer me greater creativity during portrait sessions.

Tripods and Triggers

As mentioned already, I like to keep things simple to concentrate on the story in front of me and not think about triggers and lights. However, I also like to offer really great creative images to my couples and so I keep my two off-camera lenses on two Bresser tripods and switch them on with the triggers depending on the situation.

All in all, I am a photographer who’s heart is not at the latest gear but making the available gear mine and use it with muscle memory. In the future, I might need to change my gear but only then I might consider jumping on another gear train.